Working Dog RegistrationWhakaurunga mō ngā Kurī Mahi

The Animal Control Team at the Wairoa District Council would like to work with farm owners, managers and shepherds in the Wairoa District for annual dog registrations. Annual dog registrations are due between 1st of July and 31st of August. You may be eligible for a discount if payment is made in full by the due date.

Obligations of Dog Owner

The owner of any dog must ensure that the dog receives proper care and attention and is supplied with proper and sufficient food, water, and shelter; and ensure that the dog receives adequate exercise. It is also an obligation to have your dog registered.

Safety around dogs is a combination of good law, good enforcement, compliance by dog owners and community support.

Registration

The Dog Control Act 1996 requires all dogs over 3 months old to be registered with their local council every year by 1 July.

Dog Owner File

Do you have an owner file with the Wairoa District Council? It takes less than five minutes to set one up. This will give you an owner number that will be on your file for all details and payment transactions.

Ensuring that your dog owner file is up to date will stop any confusion with the farm you are working on. If they include your dogs on their registration it will make the process faster.

Proof of Class of Dog

Where a Council sets a fee for the registration of a working dog that is lower than that set for a dog that is not a working dog, any person claiming to register any dog as a working dog shall, if required, make a written statement that the dog is a working dog of a specified class. Council officers may also require observation of the dog working.

Transferring Your Dog

A dog has to be registered at any place that it is held for one month or more. Within six weeks the owner has to give written notice to the Council in whose district the dog is being transferred to, setting out the address at which the dog will ordinarily be kept.

Where an unregistered dog is purchased or otherwise acquired, an application to register the dog must be made immediately or before the dog reaches the age of three months.

Property Inspections

Annually the Animal Control Team do property inspections in urban and rural areas to keep dog counts in the Wairoa district on record for the national data base. This may be done at any time during appropriate hours.

Missing Dogs

If your dog(s) is missing for any reason please inform the Wairoa District Council Animal Control Team as soon as possible. This service operates 24/7, we may also put out an alert in the area your dog(s) could be.

It is also a good idea to try checking local community pages on Facebook to find out if someone has found your dog.

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